


rivals

by peterplusmj



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Developing Relationship, F/M, Father-Son Relationship, Hate to Love, Love, Love/Hate, PeterMJ - Freeform, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Worth Re-Reading
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-27 06:43:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21114425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peterplusmj/pseuds/peterplusmj
Summary: "𝐢 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫. 𝐢 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮."in which peter parker and michelle jones have known each other forever, and hated each other forever. but could things change? and can peter save michelle before everything goes wrong?im terrible at summaries but i PROMISE its worth reading





	1. chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE!! some things will be changed a bit from the movies to fit my storyline, and then it will break away entirely. (this was all written before ffh came out) 
> 
> all rights go to marvel except for my storylines

"Peter, did you see the new girl today?" Ned Leeds's voice echoed through the hallways of the empty school building. Most of the students had long since gone home but Peter and Ned had stuck around trying to figure out what the 'glowy thing' was. He faintly remembered Karen calling it an energy core of some sort but he needed to examine it more to really understand how it worked and how it was being used to make weaponry. It was the only way Peter thought of that would help him stop the guy with the wings.

"There was a new girl?" Peter questioned, he hadn't been paying much attention to school if he was being honest, he was a bit preoccupied with the growing threat of whomever was selling these enhanced weapons and how he could stop him... without his suit.

"Yeah, she's a redhead and I heard that she's a party girl." Ned grins a bit and Peter scowls at him.

"That's just rumors Ned, and who cares about the new girl right now? I think we have slightly bigger things to focus on." He waved the glowing object in front of Ned's face, it had exploded when Ned took it through the Washington Monument x-rays but he had grabbed one from the deep storage vault to study it, he just had to keep it away from any radiation, simple. And now it was Ned's turn to scowl.

"You know you've been kind of rude ever since you became obsessed with this whole glowy rock and the guy with the wings thing," Ned says and Peter looked away guiltily.

"I'm sorry Ned. I just- I want to prove to Mr. Stark that I can handle myself, you know? Like I need to get the suit back, I-I don't know what to do without being spider-man. And focusing on high school isn't going to help me right now." Peter's shoulders slumped showing how truly exhausted theboy was becoming, when Tony Stark had taken his suit away it felt like his whole world was torn apart, and he didn't know what he could do to get it back.

Ned was about to speak when a tall girl with curly hair walked out of the classroom to their left, "Sup losers," she said eyeing the object Peter still was holding in his hand, "What's that you got there Parker?"

It was no secret that Michelle Jones and Peter basically hated each other. Michelle didn't like Peter because of something that happened years ago that Peter couldn't remember fully, and Peter didn't like Michelle-well-Peter didn't really have any feelings about Michelle. They weren't friends and probably never would be. To him, she was just Michelle, normal, slightly rude, Michelle.

Peter nearly tripped over his own feet and frantically shoved the object into his pockets, by then Michelle had stopped and was staring at him, a look of amusement and confusion on her face.

"Hi Michelle!" Ned said cheerily, maybe trying to take her focus off of Peter but he couldn't tell.

See, Ned had no problem with Michelle, in fact, he thought whatever hatred was between her and Peter was completely idiotic and had tried more than once to get them to hang out as a trio, that's how Peter ended up with a broken arm in seventh grade. He didn't try and push them together as much after that.

"Hey Ned," she said then turned her eyes back on Peter, who was now starting to slowly back away towards the front doors, "Whoa there Parker are you just going to ignore my question like that?" There was an underlying tone of malice in her voice, it was almost unnoticeable, but it was there. Peter couldn't help but wonder why she despised him so much, he wanted to sit down and have a real heart-to-heart with the girl, but that would probably only get him a slap across the face.

"I-uh-I, I just remembered I have a uh- an appointment! For the Stark internship." Peter was now backing towards the door quickly and offered Michelle a nervous laugh.

"He's always got that internship!" Ned said smiling at Michelle who was watching Peter back towards the doorway a blank look on her face.

"You guys are weird." She said flatly and turned on her foot and walked back into the classroom she had come out of but not before glancing one last time at Peter, throwing him a disgusted look that he hadn't even seen because he had turned his back to her, as he always did.


	2. chapter 2

For Michelle Jones it was just another day spent in the hell known as Midtown High. She really did like learning, she'd always had a thirst for knowledge, but not whatever this stupid school had to offer. She liked to think about more practical things than logarithms and the quadratic formula, she wanted to change the world, and solving math equations wasn't going to help her with that.

She wandered through the halls aimlessly, usually she'd be sitting somewhere reading her book but today she had forgotten it, a mistake she regretted heavily.

During lunch, the girl usually found herself at her lunch table, alone with her book. Well, she never felt alone with a book in hand, a whole world in her fingertips. Of course she had to forget it, and of course this was the day Peter Parker himself decided that he wanted to sit at her table.

Well, not exactly. He was almost across the entire lunchroom but the fact that she could even see him annoyed her to a point where she even tried to read the back of her granola bar wrapper. He had sat in that same spot before but more recently he'd stopped sitting there, doing different things around the school. Michelle didn't care enough to ask him what he was up to.

Now, she didn't like Peter, that was no secret. She had at one point, in fact she'd had the biggest crush on him she could hardly handle it, but then he said- he said something that hurt her so bad she could never look at him the same way again. He may have only been 12 but she couldn't seem to get past it.

_"Why do you never do your hair Michelle?" Peter's voice found its way across the lunch table to her ears._

Michelle remembered his words vividly, it was like a sharp slap to the face and he hadn't even stopped then.

_"And why do you wear the same outfits every week?"His voice didn't seem to have any kind of malice, he simply seemed curious, but to Michelle her world was coming to an end._

Her cheeks burned and she had run out of the lunch room and into the library, she cried and she cried knowing Peter with his perfect family would never be able to understand the things that went on behind closed doors in her home. How her father had died and how her mother took out all the anger and sadness on Michelle and how she had to take care of her small brother.

And thank God for the librarian, she didn't ask any questions but she handed the child a book and gave her a warm smile. She didn't say anything when Michelle didn't go to class when the bell rang or how she didn't go to any other classes that day. That was where Michelle had gained her love for reading, it was her escape.

That's when she began to shut everyone out. She'd had a lot of friends before that incident, and then she suddenly had none. And she'd liked it better that way, or at least convinced herself that she did.

The next day she'd told him, well she'd said it and she knew he didn't hear, her voice was too quiet for anyone to hear, "I hate you Peter Parker. I hate you." And after that she had moved away from them at lunch, not even giving Peter a second glance as he watched her in confusion.

She stood up abruptly from the table and Peter jerked his head to her as if she'd banged a large pan by his ear. She scowled at him and turned and walked out of the cafeteria towards the library.

She'd already read most of the books on those shelves but somehow, just being there made her calmer and stopped her from readjusting her hair endlessly and worrying about never wearing the same shirt more than once every two weeks.

She started working when she was thirteen so she could afford the clothes and had held a steady job ever since. A job at a small bookstore on the corner by her house, it was one of the few things she truly cherished in this world.

She sighed as she inhaled the smell of the library, the smell of knowledge all at her fingertips, of different worlds waiting to be opened and explored. She could never understand when someone said they hated reading, she could never understand how someone could just throw away the opportunity for a book to change their life.

"Oh hello Michelle, dear," Mrs. Darnell, the librarian, smiled softly as she walked in. Mrs. Darnell had always been there for Michelle, even since the beginning, and Michelle could never forget how she'd helped her, even when she didn't have to.

"Hi Mrs. Darnell, I'm just going to look around for a bit if that's okay?" Michelle tried to smile but her clothes seemed heavy and she could almost feel the messiness of her hair on her head. Oh how she hated her curls, relentless as they were, that's why she liked pulling them back into a pony tail or a bun, it controlled them a bit.

"Of course dear, let me know if you need anything," the woman smiled again, oh how she loved her. Michelle nodded and turned towards the shelves of books.

"Look at this!" Harry Osborn's voice floated in the silent air and Michelle glanced at him ready to give him a glare. Harry Osborn was Midtown's rich kid, he hadn't always gone to Midtown but he'd gotten kicked out of just about every other school so his father sent him here. Sometimes she felt bad for Harry, she knew Norman Osborn wasn't the most loving man and that Harry probably didn't have the best home life. But one sneer from the boy and she didn't care as much about what was going on in his personal life.

Harry wasn't looking at her though, he was pulling excitedly at a redhead's blouse. Michelle didn't recognize the girl but she did recognize the familiar red and blue of spider-man's suit playing on the screen of his computer.

She groaned and quickly turned and walked the other direction, she did not want to talk to Harry and she did not want to talk about spider-man.

Hey, she didn't hate spider-man, she just didn't see why everyone was so obsessed with him. After all the freaking avengers were just a few hours away and the entire school was more focused on a kid wearing tights? She didn't get it.

She sat down and let her mind wander for a bit, even if she wasn't the biggest fan of spider-man that didn't mean she couldn't wonder who was under that mask.

She had already figured out that it had to be a kid, probably her age based on the voice she's heard in the news and someone that lived close. Heck, maybe he even went to her school or something. She brushed off the thought and focused her mind on her Chemistry test that was quickly approaching, she probably should get some extra study materials from her teacher after school.

***

Michelle woke to a gentle shaking of her shoulder.Mrs. Darnell stood over her a slightly worried look on her face, "I'm so sorry Michelle, I didn't even realize you were still in here, you've missed all your classes."

Michelle frowned glancing at the clock on the wall and sure enough it was 3:20, 20 minutes after school had ended. "It's alright Mrs. Darnell, this is completely my fault of course, I shouldn't have fallen asleep."

Michelle could already feel her anxiety creeping into her chest. Her mother certainly wouldn't be happy with her for missing class, not that she cared so much about what her grades were, but Michelle missing class meant she would have to stay after school, and that meant she couldn't babysit her brother Drew when her mom wanted to go blow all their money with her friends.

She left the library and quickly went to the Chemistry classroom just catching her teacher, Mrs. Jones, right before she left the building. The teacher happily gave her the study materials she requested, clearly enjoying that someone was actually interested in her class, not that Michelle was, she was interested in getting a good grade.

She walked out of the classroom right in front of, guess who, yes, Peter freaking Parker. Her new stalker since recently she couldn't seem to avoid him, ever. She refused the urge to turn and walk straight away and said, "Sup losers," this was more focused on Peter but he didn't seem to notice, he was too busy with some glowing stone in his hand. "What's that you got there Parker?" Michelle didn't want to continue this conversation but her curiosity got the better of her.

Peter just stared at her blankly as if he hadn't heard her question and Michelle was about to call him out on that when Ned interrupted her with a, "Hi Michelle!" Much too cheery for her liking.

"Hey Ned," she breathed out and focused her attention to Peter who was quite obviously trying to inch away, "Whoa there Parker, are you just going to ignore my question like that?" She didn't know why she was still talking to him, she didn't want to talk to him. Or at least she didn't want to want to talk to him, if that made sense.

"I-uh-I, I just remembered I have a uh- an appointment!" She raised her eyebrows and ignored the want to smile at all of his stuttering, what a nerd. "For the Stark internship." He finished and she felt a pang in her chest. All she wanted was to intern for someone like Tony Stark. Someone who had changed the world. No, not Tony Stark specifically, she would much rather intern for someone like Pepper, that woman clearly lead Stark Industries and she lead it well.

"He's always got that internship!" Ned exclaimed but Michelle didn't take her eyes off of Peter as he walked away. There was jealousy coursing through her and she hated herself for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading!! i hope you enjoyed!! please leave a kudos or comment it really helps me stay motivated!! ♡


	3. chapter 3

"_Where_ have you been?" A shrill voice broke through Michelle's music and she cautiously pulled out an earbud as she entered her small apartment. She cringed waiting for her mother's lecture that was sure to come as she entered the building.

"I've been calling you all afternoon Michelle, you said you were going to be home before school even ended! It's been _hours_!" She had come face to face with her mother and she could immediately tell she was drunk. The way she swayed and how her words slurred every once in awhile.

"I'm sorry Kiana, my phone died and I fell asleep in the librar-" before Michelle could even finish she felt the sharp slap of her mother's hand across her cheek bone. She clenched her jaw determined not to let tears fall. She knew her mother didn't mean to hurt her, just teach her a lesson that's all. Nothing to worry about. And she hadn't hurt her much, just after her father had died and as she started drinking more and more.

"I don't _care_ where you were, next time be more responsible child." Her mother turned from her and went back to the kitchen and huffed as she sat down.

"Where's Drew?" Michelle asked softly as she glanced around for the small six year old boy she loved so much.

"Don't ask me. It was _your_ job to babysit him." Her mother's voice was cold and uncaring. She knew that her mother cared for Drew, not always when she was drunk, so Michelle had been the one to raise him really. Drew was only about a year old when her father had died, and when her mother had faded away being replaced with a shell of what she used to be.

A shot of panic seized her chest as she looked for the boy more and more, then she realized, "Why weren't you here?" her voice was almost as hard as Kiana's as the truth slapped her much like her mother's hand had only moments ago.

Her mother laughed, "I left because you said you'd be home. It's not that big of a deal." Her mother pulled out her phone and began to text one of her gambling friends.

"Oh my god. Oh my _god_." Michelle's voice was becoming unstable as she nearly ripped apart her apartment looking for the small child but he just wasn't there. She grabbed a flashlight and her phone and quickly began to walk towards the door.

"Now where on earth do you think you're going?" Her mother looked up lazily from her phone as Michelle unlocked the door and took a step into the hall.

"To find your six-year-old son that you left here all alone!" her voice was becoming hysteric and she knew she needed to get out of this woman's presence before she snapped an started screaming.

"Whatever, call me if you find him." Her mother said as she turned her head back towards her phone. She shut the door with a slam and almost immediately there were tears springing into her eyes. Her cheek stung from where her mother had slapped her and she had no clue how she was going to find one small boy in all the streets of Queens. She pulled out her phone and called the one person she could think of.

"Hello? Michelle is that you?" the voice sounded slightly winded and she wondered why, normally she would have teased the boy but now wasn't the time.

"Ned! Hi! I um- I" she wasn't one to stutter and she couldn't understand why she did, maybe she was having a panic attack, they were becoming increasingly more common throughout her situation.

"Michelle what's wrong? You sound like you're about to cry?" she almost laughed at how quickly the boy read her, she prided herself on being unreadable but again, it wasn't the time for that.

"Yeah- um my brother, you know Drew, well he's missing and I um was wondering if you could help me find him." She heard quiet whispering and she wondered who the boy was with. There was shuffling and it sounded like someone else grabbed the phone.

"Hi Michelle? It's Peter... Peter Parker from school-" She could have rolled her eyes if it wasn’t for their current situation, of course Ned was with Peter, she wasn't even surprised.

"I know who you are, loser," She said pressing her fingers to the bridge of her nose. This was going to be a long night, especially if Peter Parker was going to be there.

"Oh," there was a nervous laugh and some more shuffling, "anyway, yeah of course we will help you find your brother," She could of cried, maybe she didn't hate Parker so much, maybe this was the start of something- other than hating him? She never believed that could ever happen, but miracles could happen.

"Oh my god thank you so much, can you meet me outside by the book shop, you know by the school on the corner?" She had already began walking quickly towards where she worked. She didn't want Peter oh an Ned to know she lived at such a run down place.

"Y-yeah of course, I'll just let my aunt May know and we'll head over." She blinked at his words. Why wasn't he asking his parents? She could remember the fuzzy memory of Peter mentioning an Aunt May when they were younger but nothing really stood out. Something must have happened to his parents. She immediately felt a wave of guilt hit her, she'd always assumed he'd had a perfect life, she would never be doing that again, maybe she should had cared a bit more about what was going on in Peter Parker's life, he's still human, he didn't deserve to have someone assume things about him that just weren't true. "Michelle, uh- you still there?" the concerned voice of Ned came back on the phone.

"Yeah, sorry uh I'll see you by the book store, thanks again." she hung up quickly and nearly ran down the flights of stairs and out of her apartment complex. She ran to the book store and stopped, out of breath outside of the dark store, it had closed hours ago. Only a few seconds later Ned and Peter turned from the opposite corner quickly jogging towards her. She was still out of breath when they reached her, she needed to get into better shape, she could tell it was the same with Ned. The poor boy looked like he was about to collapse.

Parker, on the other hand looked completely normal, not out of breath in the least, she frowned. He was in much better shape than she realized. _How on earth had that happened?_

"So where should we look first?" Peter asked and she almost almost gaped at him, he looked like he had just finished a walk around the park not a jog from wherever his house was. She pushed the thought to the back of her head, again now was definitely not the time. "Oh and May says she's really sorry she can't help, she just has a late shift tonight and she really hopes we can find Drew." The boy looks nervous and she almost laughs, he keeps glancing back at Ned who was slowly beginning to breath normally again, she took another look at the bigger boy and raised her eyebrows as she realized he was staring, completely staring at Peter a look of awe on his face.

"How can you not be out of breath man?" she glanced between Peter and Ned and saw as a look of panic flashed over Peter's face. "oh wait! Is this because of the whole s-" his words were cut off as Peter nearly threw himself into the boy. She didn't expect Ned to move, he was a lot bigger than Peter but the boy nearly flew a solid two feet. Her jaw dropped as she watched as Peter grabbed Ned giving him some sort of look and turning back to her.

He clearly saw her shocked and suspicious look because he tried to explain himself, "Oh, uh he's just- well Ned didn't remember, well you see-" he was stuttering worse than she'd ever seen him stutter before.

"It's a good thing that we have more pressing issues right now Parker," Michelle cut him off not wanting to waste more time finding Drew.

"Oh- oh my god, I'm sorry Michelle, yeah let's start looking for him." Peter had turned a bright shade of red and suddenly now he was looking a bit sweaty, she rolled her eyes and glanced at the busy streets of Queens. _How on earth were they going to find him?_ Tears sprung to her eyes yet again and she turned away not wanting either of the boys to see.

Peter saw anyway, "_Hey_," his voice was softer now, "We'll find him, I promise you that." For some reason his promise didn't seem empty, he really believed they'd find the kid.

"Thanks Parker," she took a step away from him, realizing just how close they'd gotten. Her cheeks burned with a weird feeling she'd never experienced before. She ignored it and turned back to them, "Okay well there's not really a point in splitting apart, I don't want any of us to get into trouble and I know Drew, he wouldn't have gone far."

_Because he was looking for you._

The voice whispered the sentence she'd been trying not to think this entire time. The sentence she dreaded, but she knew it was true.

"Okay yeah good idea Michelle," this was the first time Ned had spoken up in awhile. She smiled lightly at the boy and looked around again.

"Do you hear that?" Peter's voice was sharp and he was suddenly very on edge. She could see the hair on the back of his neck standing up.

"No?" she said cautiously, confused, she only heard the busy sounds of the New York streets.

Peter's eyes went wide and he suddenly grabbed her hand pulling her roughly down the sidewalk. She was about to scream at him for having the audacity to touch her and she could barely keep up with him but he had a surprisingly strong grip for such a small boy.

"Parker-" then she did hear it, the cries of a small child. The cries of her child.

"Michelle?" the small voice broke her heart into a million pieces, she looked around wildly as she heard the voice. Where was he?

"There." Peter pointed towards a small boy, her small boy who was walking along the edge of the sidewalk, much too close to the busy street for her liking.

"Drew!" she called out running towards him, she could hear Peter almost directly behind her. The boy looked at her smiling widely as her saw her but then he stumbled and she was too far- way too far to get to him. She watched with horror as he began to stumble towards the road, she knew he was too small to be seen by the oncoming traffic and she heard someone screaming, she realized it was her, she was screaming.

She shut her eyes not wanting to see what was coming because she just wasn't fast enough. She listened for the impact and let out a violent sob her heard clenching.

When she heard it she screamed again, the screeching of tires forever etched in her memory. She wondered what her mother would do to her when she found out Michelle had let him die. Because she just wasn't fast enough. She didn't hear screaming of a child and wondered if he'd been killed immediately, that would be better, if he hadn't felt any pain.

She opened her eyes preparing herself for the sight she was about to see, but it wasn't him, it wasn't Drew in front of the car, well it was but there was Peter Parker, his back was towards the car and he was holding Drew tightly to his chest, completely blocking him from the oncoming traffic.

She took a sharp breath in as she ran to him, Drew immediately sprung into her arms and he began crying, and she began crying, again. This was the most she's ever cried in front of anyone in a long time. But for some reason she couldn't stop.

With Drew still clutched to her chest she turned to Peter, he must have been hurt, she had heard the impact of the car. But as she looked at him he looked right back at her, completely fine. Her eyes widened at the sight, waves of confusion hitting her, how in hell was he fine. He had just been hit by a car for crying out loud.

Then she looked at the car and she took a sharp breath in, a human sized dent was in the front of the car.

Peter hadn't been hit by a car, the car had been hit by him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you enjoyed!! thank you for reading <333


	4. chapter 4

Michelle could have stood there for hours, staring at Peter Parker's unharmed body next to the sizable dent in the car behind him. The driver of the car was staring at Peter with a look of disgust and quickly pealed away into the oncoming traffic before disappearing from her view. 

Her jaw went slack realizing what could have happened if Peter hadn't been there, the man in the car was not going slow and clearly wouldn't have cared if he had hit Drew. _God how she hated New Yorkers. _

"Did he _seriously_ just pull a hit and run?" Peter's voice wasn't the chipper, nervous tone she usually heard but it was almost angry and she was standing close enough to him that she could see that all the hair on his arms stood on end. His fingers were twitching as if he wanted to run after the man in the car, but she knew there was no way he'd ever catch him.

She was suddenly very aware of the small child that was curled in her arms, he was becoming heavier and heavier as time passed. But she couldn't bare to let the child go, he was holding onto her like a lifeline, Michelle could feel him shaking and she wondered if he was in shock.

"Michelle?" Peter's voice was suddenly on the other side of her and she spun around seeing that he had moved to the sidewalk from the road. 

She stared at him for a moment before moving the small child to her hip and wrapping her arms around Peter's surprisingly strong frame. He stood there for a moment, clearly shocked by her gesture, she had never so much as given him a high five. But he didn't hesitate for long before wrapping both of his arms around them, circling both Drew and Michelle and squeezing them tightly. And Michelle hated to admit it, but damn, Peter Parker gave a great hug.

She quickly released him realizing just how _not Michelle_ she was being, she whispered, "thank you, Parker," offering a smile that felt very tight and unnatural on her face.

"You should do that more," Peter sputtered out shoving his hands into his pockets and ducking his head as she noticed a slight blush creeping up to his face.

"Do what more?" she questioned, if he meant losing her brother so that they had a chance to hang out she was going to lose her mind- maybe break his arm again, for old times sake.

"Smile," he said glancing up at her for a second before quickly looking down again, "it looks pretty on you." 

"I only look pretty when I smile?" she said and nearly laughed seeing his eyes widen in panic, she wondered how he'd gone from the heroic person who had just saved her brother's life to this nervous boy who couldn't get through one sentence without stuttering. 

"N-no no that's not what I meant," he laughed nervously rocking back slightly on his feet.

"I'm just messing with you, Parker," she said flashing him another one of her _oh-so-pretty_ smiles. "But I really should get Drew home, my mom... uh yeah she'll be wondering where he is."

"O-oh yeah of course, tell her that I said hi," She frowned slightly, Peter had rarely ever even seen Michelle's mother. But she ignored it and told herself that he was just being polite.

"Oh my God, _Ned_," he sputtered glancing back at the boy who was sitting on a bench almost 20 feet away staring at Peter and Michelle with a weird look of happiness which quickly faded as he saw them watching.

Peter turned back to Michelle and glanced at Drew who's head was now resting on Michelle's shoulder, he wasn't crying anymore but his eyes were still rimmed red. Drew was staring at Peter a look of awe on his face and as Peter looked at him the child reached his arms out as if he wanted Peter to take him from Michelle. 

Michelle stared at the small boy for a second before holding him out to Peter who quickly took him in his arms. It looked slightly awkward because, well, Peter wasn't the biggest guy around, but he didn't seem to mind.

"You're lwike a superhero," Drew said quietly and Michelle stared between the two boys and her heart did a weird loop as she saw Peter give the child a smile.

"N-no kid, you're a hero, okay? Remember that." Michelle could have sworn she saw a flash of panic on Peter's face as he heard the word superhero but she ignored it as Peter carefully placed the child back in Michelle's arms. Drew nearly immediately fell asleep and she realized how tired the he must be, it had been a long night.

"Well, I should get back home," she said to Peter and her voice shook slightly as she spoke. Peter looked at her with worry and glanced quickly back at Ned.

"You know Michelle, well, if you want, you know, we could walk you back to your house?" he sounded so nervous and worried that she almost said yes but she could feel shame pass over herself as she remembered just how run down and old her apartment complex was.

"No it's fine, thank you Peter," she said and turned away because if she stayed any longer she probably would have let him walk her back, every time he smiled her stupid heart did a little flip and she hated it. She hat- well, she didn't hate Peter. Not anymore that is. He had just saved her brother's life. No, she _owed_ Peter Parker, and she hated owing people. 

But as she walked away she didn't see the smile that was on Peter Parker's face or the way he ran back to Ned excitedly because if he had heard her correctly, she hadn't called him Parker or loser or nerd like she always did, she'd called him Peter and even if she hadn't meant to, he didn't care because at least he was getting somewhere with her, _she couldn't hate him anymore could she?_ Maybe they could become friends. He missed having her as a friend.

"Ned! Bro! Did you see that?" he was about to mention Michelle and how her brother had called him a superhero which he never really believed, even though he was spider-man.

"Dude, you totally dented that car! That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen," Ned was rambling as he always did when it came to spider-man and Peter suddenly could, vividly, feel where the car had hit him. He was probably going to have a bruise for a day or two and was very thankful for his super strength and healing.

"Yeah it was pretty cool," he muttered, very aware of his sore back.

"Michelle was totally like, staring at you," Ned said smiling knowingly at Peter, in turn, the boy rolled his eyes and shoved his hands in his pockets. Suddenly he felt his stomach drop as he realized that he hadn't even noticed their biggest problem. If Michelle didn't know he was spider-man before, she would inevitably figure it out soon, she wasn't a complete idiot.

"_Shit_." he stared at Ned and remembering Michelle's shocked face he felt his shoulders fall, "shit."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you enjoyed this chapter!! lmk what you think!! thanks for reading ♡

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you guys enjoyed!! <33 ps the chapters will usually be longer than this, but i’m just getting started;) and it does really help me stay motivated if you leave comments and kudos!! thank you for reading ♡


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